He arrived at Yale a legacy, the grandson of a Senator, the son of a member of Congress. But throughout his four years in New Haven, George W. Bush managed to hang onto his Lone Star State roots.
It wasn't just the cowboy boots, either.
Yale was the kind of school where ambition wasn't rare. These were the days when Bill Clinton was already plotting his political career. But the future Texas governor stayed out of the fray, concentrating on athletics and a social life--Texas-style pleasures--instead of grand plans for the future.
"I vividly remember sitting with him for a few hours on a fence in a courtyard his senior year and he really didn't know what he wanted to do with himself," says former Dean of Yale College Henry Chauncey.
He nonetheless impressed his colleagues in the Class of 1968 with his gregarious personality and smooth Southern charm--the same elements that are helping him to the top of the Republican presidential field.
Deke House and Beyond
Campus life centered around a few staples: the football game, the prom, fraternities. New Haven was not then dangerous, just boring.
Read more in News
Weissmans WorldRecommended Articles
-
Democrats Must Catch up to Bush on EducationHigh school seniors breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the school year, not just because they're heading
-
On the Issues: George W. BushCrowned by the Republican establishment last year, bruised by the unexpected strength of Sen. John S. McCai' candidacy, Texas Gov.
-
Yale's Renaissance?They are getting smug in New Haven. Of the four men running for president and vice president in the 2000
-
Shooting for the PresidencyIn grand Texan tradition, George W. Bush, during his run for the Texan governorship, headed off into the woods in
-
Presidential Contest Spurs RivalryThis year, the present is prologue, and the parallels served as subtext at The Game. The presidential election, contested between
-
George Walker Bush: A ProfileLast night, from the heart of the Texas State House, Texas Gov. George W. Bush earnestly accepted the monumental task
